Africa’s leading development financiers have sounded the alarm that weak and underfunded financial institutions are threatening the African Union’s most ambitious blueprint — Agenda 2063, the continent’s 50-year plan for industrialization, integration, and prosperity.
Speaking on Monday at the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2025) in Algiers, a high-level panel of executives from Afreximbank, the African Development Bank (AfDB), Shelter Afrique, ZEP-RE, BADEA, and the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) painted a sobering picture of Africa’s financing realities. They warned that unless African institutions are recapitalized and empowered, the continent risks falling further behind in achieving its development goals.
At the heart of the challenge is a $130 billion annual trade finance gap, which continues to choke Africa’s ability to trade competitively. Panelists also highlighted that the continent receives just 3 percent of global foreign direct investment (FDI) — despite its vast resources and rapidly growing population.
Experts estimate that Africa requires at least $200 billion annually through 2030 to stay on course with Agenda 2063, yet current financial flows remain a fraction of that need.
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Dr. George Elombi, President-designate of Afreximbank, emphasized that without industrialization, Africa will never break free from commodity dependence or create sustainable wealth.
“If you have to trade, you have to produce what you trade,” Elombi said. “That means processing our iron ore, timber, and petroleum products here in Africa. Industrialization creates jobs and generates value. But our institutions are undercapitalized. The combined exposure of just two Chinese banks in Africa exceeds all the multilateral lenders on this continent combined. That is unacceptable. We must act together as one.”
Elombi warned that unless African governments invest in their own institutions, the continent will remain financially dependent on outsiders whose interests may not align with Africa’s long-term vision.
For Benjamin Kamanga, Executive Director of ZEP-RE, the lack of insurance coverage is a silent but crippling weakness.
“Insurance is critical for investment, yet penetration in Africa is extremely low,” Kamanga noted. “When floods or droughts hit, governments borrow heavily to rebuild, because neither farmers nor SMEs are insured. We are working to expand coverage using technology — from ensuring small farmers to protecting SMEs. Without insurance, every disaster becomes a debt crisis.”
Kamanga added that widening insurance penetration would help stabilize economies, reduce vulnerability to climate shocks, and attract new investors.
Thierno-Habiv Hann, Managing Director of Shelter Afrique, pointed to Africa’s staggering housing crisis — estimated at more than 52 million units — as another structural burden undermining Agenda 2063.
“The agenda 2063 target assumed 7 percent annual GDP growth, but Africa is stuck at 3 percent. To catch up, we must grow at 10 percent annually,” Hann explained. “Housing is one engine of growth, but the financing deficit is over $1 trillion. Without housing, you cannot build inclusive cities or lift people out of poverty.”
He stressed that scaling up affordable housing could create millions of jobs, stimulate domestic industries like cement and steel, and improve quality of life across the continent.
Other panelists pointed to innovations in financing. Ousmane Fall of the AfDB revealed that the bank is leveraging IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to expand its lending capacity for African governments.
Similarly, Dr. Tshepelayi Kabata of BADEA said the institution is pursuing debt-to-equity swaps to recapitalize entities like Shelter Afrique and regional insurers.
“This is the only way to derisk projects and mobilize large-scale housing and infrastructure finance,” Kabata said.
Marlene Ngoyi, CEO of FEDA, urged African states to address the structural weakness of currency dependence.
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“We cannot keep relying on foreign currencies to trade among ourselves,” she said. “A product from Kinshasa should reach Nigeria without going through the dollar or euro. Transformational finance must come from Africa, for Africa.”
Ngoyi argued that developing settlement systems in local currencies will reduce external vulnerabilities and strengthen intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The panelists were unanimous that undercapitalized institutions remain the biggest threat to Africa’s ability to deliver Agenda 2063. Without urgent reforms and financial backing from member states, they warned, Africa will remain vulnerable to external shocks, debt dependency, and missed opportunities.
“Our future cannot be outsourced,” one participant concluded. “If Africa does not build its own financial muscle, Agenda 2063 will be nothing more than another set of dreams on paper.”